“Fossil fuels and plastics are not only made from the same materials, they are made by the same companies,” Steven Fei, an attorney for the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) Climate and Energy Program, said in a recent CIEL report. Some of the big players in the fossil fuel industry driving plastic production are DowDuPont, ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, BP, and Sinopec.

Today, we produce about 300 million tonnes of plastic waste every year. That’s nearly equivalent to the weight of the entire human population. Most plastics pollute the environment for significant periods of time, quite often breaking down into smaller plastic particles that can be swallowed by animals and fish and end up in our food and water. If current trends continue, our oceans could contain more plastic than fish by 2050. The life cycle of plastics shows that the fight against plastics pollution needs a more holistic approach. If we are going to effectively tackle climate change and plastics pollution, we need to stop plastic production at the source, which means transitioning away from fossil fuels.

A recent report in the Oil and Gas Journal said that whether or not aggressive action is taken to pursue renewable energy in the face of climate change, the plastics sector almost guarantees growth for oil and natural gas. The industry knows that plastics pollution is vast: The industry reports that the amount of plastics in the Pacific Ocean covers an area three times the size of France, while microplastics accumulate below the surface and enter food chains. Because of growing awareness of climate change and plastics pollution, they cite their support for recycling, but some would argue it’s a marketing strategy to help maintain the longevity of the fossil fuel industry.

“The movement to address single-use plastics is a necessary part of the strategy to end plastics pollution, but it isn’t enough unless there is widespread recognition that the plastics industry continues to expand,” Carroll Muffett, CIEL president and CEO, tells Teen Vogue. “The recycle triangle is effective in convincing consumers that they aren’t throwing something away, that it will be reused. But the truth is, less than 10% of plastics are effectively recycled.”

“We took Exxon by surprise. They thought they were going to come in and convince everyone [that the plant was a good idea],” Errol Summerlin, an organizer with Portland Citizens United, tells Teen Vogue. He says the proposed site would be located across the street from homes and within one mile of local schools. (Teen Vogue has reached out to Exxon for comment, but has not yet received a response.) “We’re up against billions of dollars, Exxon and the Saudi royal family,” Summerlin adds. “We have elected officials saying it’s a wonderful thing for our local area, and we 100% disagree.”

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Summerlin claims that the amount of fresh water the plastics production plant requires, which he says is 7.3 billion gallons a year, is more than the 7.1 billion gallons all of the region’s residents use. He says that local counties have been on water restrictions because of ongoing droughts, and says further that the government is proposing seawater-desalination facilities to supply more water for industry.

Many industrial sites are being built in the backyards of marginalized low-income communities that may face health impacts from air and water pollution. These frontline communities have to pay the price of plastics expansion with the quality of their lives. Priscilla Villa, a Hispanic third-generation Texan, and organizer for Earthworks, works on the front lines of Karnes County in Texas, one of the topmost oil-producing counties in the state. “People have been reporting health issues every day since the fracking boom. They have to live with nosebleeds, chronic headaches, trouble breathing, skin reactions, burning eyes, sinus problems,” she tells Teen Vogue.

Items like this traffic cone, pulled out of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch by Greenpeace in 2018, are instantly recognizable and a surreal sight in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of miles from land.

Tabor Wordelman

Adelita Cantu, PhD, RN, associate professor at UT Health San Antonio, School of Nursing, says these health problems may be related to fracking and oil industry: “As a public health nurse, I was concerned about how the environment impacts our health. What’s happening in Karnes county and similar areas with oil and gas drilling and fracking, there are big health concerns. In terms of reducing quality of life and life expectancy and overall what it does for people's well-being. There are huge health consequences from fracking and oil and gas drilling. We are working with individuals in the community to be citizen scientists, giving them air quality monitors so they can document what is happening in their environment." Cantu continues, "I’ve been a public health nurse for over 40 years and the environment does impact health and plays a role in quality of life. Knowing that connection is vital to the wellbeing of our communities. It’s imperative for us all to think about our environments when thinking about our health. I’ve interviewed people in Karnes County who certainly have nose bleeds, skin rashes, and respiratory issues — these are the main issues that come about from fracking and oil and gas sites.”

Villa describes one plastics facility as being the size of a football field, illuminated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and just 400 hundred feet away from a family’s back door. Villa adds that these sites are constant sources of noise and light pollution and that people have reported suffering from insomnia. Dr. Cantu tell Teen Vogue, “One man I’ve talked to has an oil well in his backyard and suffers from respiratory issues and insomnia, related to the fact that lights are on all the time at the drill site.”

“Community members are fed up with living near these sites and wish they could move, but how could they ever sell their house? No one would buy a house there. It’s inescapable,” Villa says. Community members feel that the government is prioritizing industry over the health of local communities.

The plastics boom means more fracking and greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change while continuing to pollute oceans, food chains, and water supplies. It will perpetuate a fossil fuel economy that undermines efforts to address the climate and plastics crisis, and impacts front line communities and the wider public at every stage of plastics’ toxic life cycle. With only 12 years to prevent the worst possible impacts of climate change, the world cannot afford an expanding plastics industry in the time of crisis.

For more information on the global plastics crisis, read the rest of the Plastic Planet series.